First Look: Kobo Aura H20
My wife and I attended a Kobo press event tonight in Downtown Toronto that allowed us to get up close and personal with the new Kobo Aura H20 eReader. What makes this eReader different than anything else on the market is this:
It’s waterproof. As in IP67 certified waterproof. That means you can keep it underwater (no more than 1 meter) for up to 30 minutes with the port cover closed.
Here’s a look at it on dry land. The screen which is a 6.8” Carta E Ink HD infrared touchscreen with a resolution of 1430 x 1080, 265 dpi. I found it to be very sharp when I was reading The Hunger Games on it. It was also easy to read regardless of the lighting conditions. So I don’t think you’ll have a problem reading books on it indoors or outdoors. It comes with 4GB of RAM and it’s expandable to 32GB so you can store all the books you want. Plus it has 802.11 B/G/N WiFi as well as Micro USB so that you can add to your digital library. As for battery life, it tops out at two months. That’s not a misprint.
My wife and I both test drove it and we both liked it. My wife in particular who reads a lot and isn’t a fan of eReaders because she prefers the feel of paper books was quickly converted to the other side because of how light it was, how sharp the screen is, and the fact that it was waterproof. The latter was a big selling point for her as it meant that she could read anywhere. In the hot tub, on the beach, while taking a bubble bath among other places.
The Aura H20 will retail for $179 CDN online and in-store, starting October 1st in Canada, the US, the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, and Spain with more countries to follow. Beginning tomorrow, select retailers will offer pre-orders, and as of September 1st, pre-orders will be available at Kobo.com in Canada, the US, and the UK.
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